Donald J. Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, expresses an intent to cooperate with the White House investigation that links Russia's involvement in the 2016 US Presidential election scuffle.
Cohen, who served as the POTUS' personal counsel for more than a decade, has recently pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and tax evasion.
The plea deal, which Cohen reached with prosecutors on Tuesday, could land the attorney in jail for five years and three months. Initial ruling prior to the guilty plea deal puts Cohen in a 65-year prison sentence.
In line with this recent turn of events, Cohen divulges to the federal court a plethora of revelations pointing out to his former client's alleged illicit transactions such as arranging payments to silence two women, each of them claiming to have an affair with Trump.
The 51-year-old claimed direct involvement in the payment of the said "hush money" to Stormy Daniels - a pornographic film actress, and Karen McDougal - a former Playboy magazine model.
According to Cohen, the money has its "principal purpose of influencing the 2016 election" by ensuring that the two aforementioned individuals will keep mum on their alleged extra-marital connection with then-presidentiable Mr. Trump.
More than ever, Cohen, in the person of his lawyer Lanny Davis, holds crucial information that Special Counsel Robert Mueller can use to expedite the Russia investigation.
Mueller, who previously served as director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (2001 - 2013), conducted a probe on Kremlin's reported meddling of the 2016 US election. The counsel's team also happened to come across findings pointing out to the possible collusion between Moscow and Trump's campaign officials during the said election.
As cited at BBC, Atty. Davis said that his client would be "more than happy" to dish out information "regarding both knowledge about a conspiracy to corrupt American democracy by the Russians."
Davis went on to state that Cohen might tell Mueller the issue on "hacking and the crime of hacking," in relation to the election debacle.
Cohen's plea follows in the heels of Paul Manafort's. The latter, who formerly served as Trump's campaign manager, admitted guilt on eight charges of fraudulence and related financial crimes.
In light of the recent revelations from Cohen, Trump offered his statement to Fox News (cited over at CNN) regarding the reported "hush money" payments. In the interview, the US head of state said that he only knew about the payments "later on" and reiterated that it did not come out of the campaign.
